Two-thirds of 2024 Labour voters would rather Sir Keir Starmer abandon his Brexit red lines and join a customs union with the European Union than raise taxes on working people, new polling has revealed.
It comes after reports that the prime minister rejected calls from his chief economic adviser for Britain to rejoin the EU’s customs union in an attempt to improve growth ahead of the Budget, with the chancellor instead choosing to impose £26bn worth of tax rises after asking “ordinary people to pay a little bit more”.
The Savanta poll showed that fewer than one in five (18 per cent) Labour voters would prefer the government to raise taxes and continue to stay outside the EU’s customs union.
Some 67 per cent backed rejoining the customs union instead of raising taxes, the polling commissioned by the Liberal Democrats showed.
Overall, just over half (52 per cent) of UK adults said they would rather the government joined a customs union with the EU than raise taxes. Just one in five (21 per cent) said the opposite.
It came after deputy prime minister David Lammy suggested that rejoining the customs union could increase economic growth – as ministers increasingly hit out at the financial damage caused by Brexit.
Mr Lammy refused seven times in an interview to rule out reversing Brexit, arguing that leaving the EU badly damaged the UK economy and saying Labour should consider closer integration with Brussels.
While he said that rejoining the customs union was not currently government policy, he said it was self-evident that other countries had seen growth after doing so.
Asked about Mr Lammy’s comments, a Downing Street spokesperson said: “We are strengthening relations with the EU whilst sticking to our red lines.”
“There’s no credible economic vision for Britain not positioning us as an open trading economy.
“We have to be grown up about tradeoffs. We have redefined bonds with EU and stuck to our red lines”, the spokesperson added.
Pressed on the deputy prime minister’s remarks, the official said: “That is not our current policy or where we are.”
Sources told The Times that Baroness Shafik, Sir Keir’s chief economic adviser, privately made the recommendation to rejoin the customs union in the run-up to last month’s Budget, arguing it would cut costs for businesses and increase exports.
The prime minister is currently attempting to ramp up his “reset” of relations with the bloc as part of an attempt to boost growth, but he has insisted that the government’s “clear red lines in relation to the single market and the customs union” remain in place.
In a speech last week, Sir Keir said it would be “utterly reckless” to use Brexit as a template for future foreign policy.
Giving a speech at the Lady Mayor’s Banquet in central London on Monday night he said: “The Brexit vote was a fair, democratic expression, and I will always respect that. But how it was sold and delivered was wrong.
“Wild promises were made to the British people and not fulfilled. We are still dealing with the consequences today in our economy.”
He added: “To consider Brexit a template for our future foreign Policy is utterly reckless.”
It comes after analysis seen by The Independent revealed that Brexit is costing the UK up to £90bn a year in lost tax revenues.
In the lead-up to the tax-rising Budget, Ms Reeves and other cabinet ministers ramped up their attacks on Brexit, saying the decision to leave the EU had an even bigger impact on Britain’s economy than critics predicted.
The Liberal Democrats have tabled a bill being voted on by MPs on Tuesday which would require the government to launch negotiations over a customs union with the EU, with the party writing to Labour MPs urging them to back the bill.
The bill, tabled by Lib Dem Europe spokesperson Al Pinkerton, will be voted on by MPs just two weeks after the budget. However, it is unlikely to pass as a result of a lack of government support, and is largely symbolic.
Mr Pinkerton told The Independent: “A closer trade deal with the EU is a no-brainer. It is the single biggest thing we could do to boost the economy, generate billions for our public services and put money back in people’s pockets.
“I would urge Labour MPs to back our bill this week so we can start to undo the damage done by the disastrous Conservative Brexit deal.
“Labour supporters would overwhelmingly back a customs union with the EU. It’s time the government listened to them and changed course.”
Savanta interviewed 2,024 UK adults online between November 7 and November 10 2025.
